Monster Beverage Corporation $MNST Shares Bought by Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio

Key Points

• The Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its stake in Monster Beverage Corporation by 4.4% in Q2, owning 307,627 shares valued at approximately $19.27 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Vanguard and UBS, have also increased their holdings, indicating strong interest from major funds in Monster Beverage.
• Monster Beverage reported an EPS of $0.52 for the quarter, exceeding estimates and showing an 11.1% year-over-year revenue increase to $2.11 billion.

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its stake in shares of Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST - Free Report) by 4.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 307,627 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 12,834 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio's holdings in Monster Beverage were worth $19,270,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,786,624 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,791,313,000 after acquiring an additional 1,151,175 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,154,347 shares of the company's stock valued at $535,712,000 after acquiring an additional 563,353 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Monster Beverage during the 1st quarter worth approximately $497,157,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,431,658 shares of the company's stock worth $434,901,000 after purchasing an additional 73,737 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in shares of Monster Beverage by 34.6% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 7,278,206 shares of the company's stock worth $425,921,000 after purchasing an additional 1,872,075 shares during the last quarter. 72.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mark Vidergauz sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.73, for a total transaction of $637,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 51,191 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,262,402.43. The trade was a 16.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 8.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MNST. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $68.00 price objective on Monster Beverage and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Roth Capital restated a "neutral" rating and set a $60.00 price objective (up from $56.00) on shares of Monster Beverage in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Monster Beverage from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn downgraded Monster Beverage from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $60.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Monster Beverage presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $65.19.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

MNST stock opened at $64.59 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.12, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.54. Monster Beverage Corporation has a one year low of $45.70 and a one year high of $67.13. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $62.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $61.09.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.04. Monster Beverage had a net margin of 20.54% and a return on equity of 27.46%. The firm had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.41 EPS. Monster Beverage's revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Corporation will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Monster Beverage Company Profile

Monster Beverage Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in development, marketing, sale, and distribution of energy drink beverages and concentrates in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Monster Energy Drinks, Strategic Brands, Alcohol Brands, and Other.

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